Why did DPP Haji allow ‘poisonous’ fertiliser into the hands of farmers?

Kenya Bureau of Standards Managing Director Charles Ongwae with lawyer Newton Osiemo in court on June 25, 2018. He was charged with attempted murder in the fertiliser case. [File, Standard]

When Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji hauled 11 suspects to court in a case involving Sh300 million fertiliser alleged to contain mercury, he was breathing fire.

Emboldened by information from investigators from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), he went for the most daring charge of attempted murder, a first in the history of public service prosecutions.